【Watch V Online】

As the past several weeks have Watch V Onlinerevealed, sexual misconduct has been far too prevalent in Hollywood, but the entertainment industry is now cleaning house. The #MeToo movement and public accusal of powerful men in Hollywood is a movement that requires many, but big name actresses like Angelina Jolie and Reese Witherspoon helped spread the word significantly.

For their annual roundtable, The Hollywood Reportergathered together six top actresses with major releases this season to talk about their work – and, naturally, the conversation quickly shifted to the ongoing sexual harassment issue in Hollywood.

"There is a history of abuse against women in our industry, and it's never been addressed," said Jessica Chastain. "I'm devastated by all the stories that have come out because it's heartbreaking, but at the same time I feel hopeful because we're not ignoring it anymore."

Alongside Chastain, the roundtable brought together Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Mary J. Blige, and Saoirse Ronan.

"The entertainment industry is kind of the stage on which you can see the inner workings of problems that are all over the world," said Lawrence. "If a flight attendant comes forward about a pilot, it doesn't end up in the news because nobody knows about it. That doesn't mean that there's less sexual abuse going on anywhere else in the world, in any other place of work. But fortunately, we're starting the conversation now."

Stone pointed out the link between the gender wage gap and sexual harassment, both of which stem from unequal power between men and women in any given industry. Lawrence recently spoke about her experience with sexual harassment in film, and wrote an open letter to Hollywood about pay inequality in 2015. Chastain described movie deals that took longer to settle on her pay rate because the production was waiting to settle up a male costar's check first.

"I believe that things will change because this is making other women say, 'Me too,' 'Me too,' 'Me too' — it keeps happening every day because people are tired of sitting around with that secret that holds them prisoner," said Blige. "Women have been going through this since they were children."

The actresses shared the experience of being dismissed as "difficult' when they stood up for themselves or feeling that their jobs were threatened if they were too assertive.

"The onus isn't on women," Chastain emphasized. "Society has a way of blaming victims: You didn't come out soon enough or you're not asking for enough money. But the onus is on others not to abuse their power."

Read the full interview here.